On Monday, Georgia Southern began reporting COVID-19 confirmed and self reported cases with plans to continue releasing this information on a weekly basis.

Students are listed as “university confirmed” on the report if they tested positive at the Georgia Southern Health Center.  The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) who is tracking positive cases, does not report back to Georgia Southern positive cases of students tested in other testing locations.

Georgia Southern however, does report confirmed positive cases to DPH and those numbers will be counted in the total number of positive cases daily for Bulloch County.

There is a bit of confusion about how students test results are recorded.

“We cannot speak to what DPH does, but we report the student’s local address, if one is available, when we report positive cases that we diagnose in the Health Center”, said Jennifer Wise, Director of Communications for Georgia Southern.

In addition, calls or forms submitted to CARES Center from individuals who claimed to have received a positive COVID-19 test result will show as “self reported” on the weekly GSU report.

DPH encourages local address to be used

We reached out to Nancy Nydam, Media Relations with the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) to see if they had any systems in place to make sure college students were listing their college address, not their permanent address.

“It depends on where your place of usual residence is at the time of testing/infection. If your permanent address is in Bulloch County, but you actually live in Athens, you’d be counted in Clarke County. If you live mostly in Bulloch County but stay in Athens a few days a week for classes, you would be counted in Bulloch County”, said Nydam.

“The point is to find and mitigate areas of infection and transmission. If you are not at your permanent address for weeks at a time, it makes sense to use the address where you do spend your time, since that’s likely where you were infected.”

In a follow up question, Nydam agreed that the responsibility for reporting the correct address was the student’s.  When you schedule a test online though DPH it does instruct you to list the county you are living in for reporting purposes.

In a poll of local doctors’ offices and other testing facilities, many agreed that the typical address that is used for tests is the billing or insurance address.

Several employers of students polled their students informally who had been tested and discovered that most of the students had listed their local addresses.

If you know of a student being tested, please make sure they give Bulloch County as their current county of residence.  That will help DPH and local official get an accurate count of students who are positive.

COVID-19 testing options for GSU Students

Parents of Georgia Southern students have taken to social media with questions regarding where Georgia Students should go for COVID-19 testing in the area.  Jennifer Wise, Director of Communications at Georgia Southern, explained that symptomatic Statesboro campus students should make an appointment at the Georgia Southern Health Center.

Rapid testing and other testing options are available to enrolled students with COVID symptoms who have paid the semester health fee AND who have had their COVID symptoms evaluated by a student health services medical provider.  It is up to the student health medical provider’s clinical discretion to determine if a test is indicated, and to also determine which test option is most appropriate.

Wise directed us to the information on the Georgia Southern Health Services website that explains in detail how to make an appointment and use the online scheduling and telehealth options available.  In addition, Wise shared student COVID-19 testing information.

Below are some of the highlights shared from the website.

Rapid Testing Available for Georgia Southern Students

Below are the COVID testing options for students through the student health center on the Statesboro campus.  For Armstrong campus testing information click here.

These testing options are available to enrolled students with COVID symptoms who have paid the semester health fee AND who have had their COVID symptoms evaluated by a student health services medical provider.  It is up to the student health medical provider’s clinical discretion to determine if a test is indicated, and to also determine which test option is most appropriate.

The cost for the tests listed below are for the tests only, and the listed cost does not include the costs associated with the evaluation done by the medical provider.   Costs for testing may be subject to change.

Detailed information is available online for the Armstrong campus clinic and the Statesboro campus clinic regarding hours of operation, instructions for scheduling appointments, and any additional fees that are associated with medical evaluations and testing in the Statesboro campus clinic and Armstrong campus clinic.

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Statesboro campus student health center COVID testing options with symptoms

1. Rapid in-house point of care test: provides results at the point of care or within the same day; cost of test to student = $35 and is due at the time of service.  For students with insurance, the cost will be filed to your insurance plan.  Payment by insurance is not guaranteed, and any applicable copays, coinsurance, and deductibles apply.
2. Send out test to reference lab: provides results usually within 7-10 days, and sometimes sooner; cost of test to student = $100 and is due at the time of service.  For students with insurance, the cost will be filed to your insurance plan.  Payment by insurance is not guaranteed, and any applicable copays, coinsurance, and deductibles apply.
3. DPH specimen collection by health services staff: provides results within 7-10 days, and sometimes sooner; cost of test to student $0.00; this option is reserved for students who are unable to pay for option 1 or 2 AND who do not have transportation off campus to the local DPH testing center
4. Referral to the Bulloch county DPH test site: provides results within 7-10 days of specimen collection, and sometimes sooner; cost of test to student $0.00, but it does require that the student has transportation off campus to the DPH testing site

Off-Campus Testing Options for Asymptomatic COVID-19 Students

Students on the Statesboro campus who wish to be tested but who do not have symptoms or who have not been evaluated in the Statesboro campus health center for their symptoms can seek testing through the following options in the Bulloch county area:

1. Testing at the Bulloch county DPH testing center

-The test site in Bulloch County is at the Bulloch County Health Department on 1 -West Altman Street in Statesboro.

-It is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 8am-1230pm and Saturday 8am-11am.

-An appointment is required and registration is online at https://covid19.dph.ga.gov/ or by calling  1-855-473-4374

2. Testing at CVS retail pharmacies: fees and certain restrictions may apply; see https://cvshealth.com/covid-19/testing-locations for more information and to register for testing
3. Evaluation and testing through local urgent care centers: subject to fees set by the urgent care center
4. Evaluation and testing through local primary care providers: if you have an off-campus primary care provider, you can seek testing through their office; subject to fees set by your primary care provider

Accessing On-Campus Student Health Care Options

To access this system, click on the Eagle OSH link after logging into your WINGS or My.GeorgiaSouthern page. Eagle Online Student Health is a secure, private and online access system connecting the student to the following features:

Appointment Scheduling/Cancellations/Pre-visit Intake Forms

Health Services operates by advanced appointments that are self-scheduled using the Online Student Health (OSH) Patient Portal. This system allows you to enter in appointment dates and time ranges to review what appointments are available over various days and time slots. While all other clinic appointments may be scheduled online as far in advance as desired, please note that General Medical appointments (Blue, Green, and Gold) become available for online scheduling 24 hours before the given appointment time slot. The appointment may be reserved online up to one hour in advance of the given appointment time slot.   This allows all General Medical Team (Blue, Green, Gold) appointments scheduled online to be either same-day or next-day appointments.

Once you have made your appointment, it is important that you:

• Complete all required forms prior to your visit.
• Arrive 10 to 15 minutes prior to complete the check-in process. If you arrive late, you may be required to re-schedule your appointment.
• Bring your student ID and insurance card if you want us to bill your insurance plan.
• Cancel your appointment as needed by going to the Eagle OSH home page or call the Appointment Office at 912-478-5641, option “0”.

If you do not see an available appointment that meets your needs, please see the following options:

For Telehealth Assistance:

1. AMWELL (Download APP)
2. St. Joseph’s Candler Smart Care 24/7  (Download APP)
3. TELEDOC  (Download APP)
   1-800-TELADOC (1-800-835-2362)
4. STUDENT HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN
   1-855-870-5858

** Check Your Health Insurance Plan for Specific Coverage Details.

Also see a list of the local options: